Society

Yaounde: MINJEC supports 10 youth projects with 14 million FCFA funding.

Officials, beneficiaries immortalise event with family photo

A total of 10 young Cameroonians drawn from across the country have received financial assistance to boost their projects.
The assistance falls within the framework of the Youth Entrepreneurship Promotion Program abbreviated PPE, piloted by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Civic Education, MINJEC, and funded by the Conference of Ministers of Youth and Sports of the Francophonie popularly known by its French acronym CONFEJES.

The cheques were handed over to the beneficiaries recently in Yaounde during a ceremony presided over by the Minister of Youth Affairs and Civic Education, Mounouna Foutsou.

The beneficiaries received financial support ranging from FCFA 1,400,000 FCFA for some, to over FCFA 1,600,000 FCFA for others.

Speaking during the ceremony, Minister Mounouna Foutsou expressed gratitude to their partners for the project which is now achieving good results and helping a lot for young people.

He said between 2005 and 2023, 887 young people have received entrepreneurial training thanks to this program, with the projects of 138 young people financed.

According to Mounouna Foutsou, the projects were selected on the basis of their relevance and ability to create jobs as well as quickly generate revenue.

Projects that were selected principally fell in the sectors of agro-food, animal husbandry, tailoring, and aesthetics among others.

Mounouna Foutsou concluded by calling on the beneficiaries to demonstrate economic patriotism, and make the most of their income to move the country forward, each in their own field.

On his part, the technical advisor of CONFEJES, Traoré Modibo, encouraged the beneficiaries to remain steadfast and courageous as their efforts will not only be beneficial to them but to the entire nation, and contribute in solving the problem of youth unemployment in the country.

“Dare to imagine, dare to do. Boldness has an immense power, that of moving from imagination to reality, and it is our role to give you every reason to believe in yourself, in your dreams. We believe in you,” Modibo said.

Mounouna Foutsou handing over cheque to beneficiary

Enter beneficiaries

The beneficiaries on their part expressed gratitude to the government through MINJEC, and to CONFEJES for helping young people in the country solve one of the major problems affecting youth entrepreneurship which is finance.

For 30-year-old Olivier Malongti, the funds will help him better advertise the services offered by his enterprise that has for the past five years promoted tourist sites in the country.

The holder of Master’s degree from the International Relations Institute of Cameroon, IRIC who received close to FCFA 2 million in funding, said he looks forward to selling Cameroon’s tourists destinations to foreigners and even locals with an aim to make more citizens get engaged with tourism.

He said through this, he will be promoting economic patriotism by urging more Cameroonians to consume locally made products as well as use local resources to create and innovate.

The story was first published in The Guardian Post issue No:3157 of Wednesday July 3, 2024